SEVERAL local shop owners have voiced their outrage concerning parking restrictions in Tavistock.

A group of shop owners in the area have reported recent instances in which they have been given a parking ticket while loading outside of their businesses.

Judith Murray, owner of Farley Menswear, was recently fined while parked in the loading bay opposite her shop on Brook Street.

She said: ‘I park in the loading bay every morning and every evening, I might be loading up in the shop or packing up and coming in to get stuff, occasionally I might have a phone call or a customer might come in.’

‘It’s not that I want to park in the loading bay, I have my own space that I pay for and it’s not parking in Tavistock that is the issue, as things in town have improved, the wardens are the problem.’

Despite disagreeing with the fine, Judith said: ‘I have paid the penalty, this is not about wanting a refund, its the principle. The traffic enforcement need to understand that this is a market town, we all need to work together in a nice way.’

Clare Knowles-Brown, owner of La Caché, was unloading clothes from her rep’s car when he was fined.

She said: ‘My rep had come down and was unloading two long rails of clothes, usually the traffic wardens are good and will stick their head in to tell us to move but this man must have stood out of sight for the whole five minutes and then put the ticket on the car quickly.’

Jenny Elsmore, owner of Odds and Suds, was also concerned following a number of conversations with traffic wardens in Tavistock.

She said: ‘We are coming out the end of a recession and individual shopkeepers are struggling.

‘There aren’t many deliveries in Tavistock High Street so it is not like the roads are blocked up, there is hardly any traffic now.’

Jenny recalled an instance in which her son was ticketed while unloading his car when opening a new shop.

‘He asked for an exemption from the council but it wasn’t granted. So we put a note in the window while we were unloading and still got a ticket.

‘I asked why the warden couldn’t have just knocked on the window and asked us to move but he said that he is not allowed to do that or show favouritism.’

She added: ‘They show no humanity and act like they don’t want Tavistock to have a community.

‘The rates on my shop are £500 a month and my rent is £1,500, that’s £2,000 a month and they don’t even take my rubbish away and there’s nowhere to park.’

Jenny had also said that since the introduction of £2 parking, the Riverside car park was filled with shop staff and people who worked in Tavistock.

‘Everyone who works here used to park on the outskirts of Tavistock but now they can accept paying £2 a day to park. The Riverside car park is full of people working in town, therefore there isn’t enough room for visitors or shoppers.’

A spokesman for Devon County Council said: ‘The problem occurs where domestic cars are parked in loading bays and there’s visibly no loading or unloading happening.

‘There’s actually no time limit for loading and unloading, so long as it’s clearly a continuous activity. Officers will watch for five minutes if it’s a domestic car, or ten minutes if it’s a commercial vehicle, to see whether there’s activity.

‘Loading bays are relied upon by the businesses, so it’s important to them and their customers that bays are not abused. 

‘We also consider context when dealing with commercial liveried vehicles, like couriers, or a florist loading outside its own business in a commercial vehicle bearing its livery.

‘In context these activities are obvious to our team, and any other driver, and we can move on along the road.’